Of Nifflers And Nargles
by Ralinde
Summary: Christmas at the Scamanders is always a special time. This time Luna and Rolf want to give the twins a pet. But what to get them?


_A/N: This is written for the School Subjects Competition, category Care of Magical Creatures (Write about a magical creature and/or a story that takes place outside), for the Creatures of Hogwarts Competition, category Niffler, and for the Fanfiction Tournament, edition December 2012 (write about Christmas). _

* * *

"A Niffler?" Rolf looked at his wife with scepticism. "Why would you want to give them a Niffler for Christmas?"

"It's good for kids to learn how to handle magical creatures," Luna replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, I totally agree with you on that of course, but I'm not so sure a Niffler would be the best choice. I was thinking more along the lines of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Luna shook her head.

"No, they are very dangerous. My father had one once and it blew up his house. He has never been the same since."

"Your father had a Crumple-Horned Snorkack? Wow. Wait 'till my grandfather hears about that."

"I think he already knows. He always seems to know these kinds of things. But Crumple-Horned Snorkack don't like living inside a house."

"Hmm, perhaps you're right. But Nifflers steal things."

"Don't be silly Rolf. They just hide them. They'd make a perfect pet for Lorcan and Lysander, for they can play hide and seek with it. They are also very loyal creatures."

-o0o-

In the end, Rolf had given in to Luna so on Christmas day, one of the boxes beneath the tree contained a young Niffler. They could already hear it sniffling around in it box, for they had given it a spoon to keep it entertained until the boys came down.

Lysander was the first to walk in. His eyes grew big when he saw the pile of presents and he immediately called for his twin brother.

"Lor, Lor! You have to come see this, there's loads of presents underneath the tree!"

His blond look-a-like ran into the room, just as excited as his brother.

"Can we unpack them?" he asked eagerly.

"Of course you can. That's what packages are for."

The words had barely left Luna's lips when the two boys were already tearing at the paper of one present or another.

"A Muggle paint set!" Lysander cried out. "That is so cool!"

"I got an extra special edition of ol'pa's book! 'To Lorcan,' it says. 'Explore the world with your eyes closed, for the magical creatures will come to you.' And look, it has a looking glass that makes the words turn red and green!"

Luna and Rolf laughed as the twins unpacked more and more of their packages.

"Hey Ly, that package is moving. Do you think ol'pa's book is working already?"

Lysander picked up the box. "It's heavy. Let's see what's inside."

Lorcan lifted the lid and screamed in joy. "It's a Niffler!"

"Let me see!"

"Guys, take it easy, okay? You're scaring him," Rolf tried to calm his kids down.

"This is the best present we've ever got!" Lysander yelled excitedly. "Let's see if it can bring back things." He took the spoon from the Niffler and tossed it around the room. The Niffler scurried towards the spoon and sat down on it, eying the twins suspiciously.

"Come on, here boy, give it back," Lorcan pleaded but the Niffler wouldn't move.

"We should give him a name," Lysander said.

"You're right. But it has to be something cool, so he'll actually listen to it. How about Finny?"

"I like that. Here Finny, here boy." Lysander tried to lure the unwilling Niffler and Rolf turned to his wife.

"Okay, so maybe you're right," he said. "It definitely beats having our house blown up."

"That's what I told you," Luna replied. "Hey look, the Nargles are awake as well." She pointed at the mistletoe where two tiny creatures were visible.

"Sorry to have awoken you guys," Rolf apologised. The Nargles looked at them angrily.

"Maybe this'll help?" Luna said and planted a kiss on Rolf's lips. She then turned to the Nargles. "We really are sorry."

The Nargles looked a little less angry, but still not very amused.

"I think what they're trying to say," Rolf said, "is that we should do better." He bent down and kissed Luna again.

"Yuk, Mum and Dad are kissing," Lorcan said in a disgusted voice.

Luna and Rolf broke apart, laughing. "There's nothing wrong with kissing," Luna said. "In fact, I think you guys could do with a kiss as well." They pulled in the protesting boys and gave them a 'family-hug'. Luna looked up and noticed that the Nargles were now smiling. She smiled back. She was really happy to have her family around on Christmas Day and gave them all an extra hug, while Finny the Niffler scurried off to find more treasures to add to his collection.


End file.
